Not a wake boat, it's my "fakeboat" a 20' center console with no T top. only a Bimini.

I dread cutting holes in the old girl but it is time for tunes.

My dread and the exposed nature of a CC boat in sea water leads to the question at hand:

Q) Is it a feasible and user friendly possibility to fore-go installing an actual deck or head unit and just use an amp and an Ipod?
Even the best marine head units die a swift and ugly death in our waters if installed in the open. I have no choice but "open".

Q) My wife has the Serious portable head that goes back and forth between her car and the house system, can I use that as well as an Ipod on the same setup?

Q) What are the items and specs I need to look for when shopping to assemble the system?
This is a simple four speaker setup that doesn't have to rock the party cove. Just some tunes while marinating.

Is there a place on your boat where if you built a small enclosure you could mount the speakers already in boxes to limit the amount of holes you have to cut in the boat?

Reason I ask is on my father in laws boat he needed turns for when he goes skiing and there were no mounting areas so under the dash we built boxes and mounted them under the glove box and steering wheel and in the back we left them unmounted so we can pull them out and sit them on the back deck so if we are on shore we can listen to it there. Also built those boxes from scratch. Is it the prettiest set up in the world no but it works for his set up and it sounds better than my brand new car.

If you could take a picture of your boat and interior so we can see it may be able to come up with some ideas

Speakers are no issue. I know where and how to cut the holes and how to run the cables. I have nice dry room under the console for an amp and a radio box to hold an Ipod dock. Al that is easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

I'm looking at 4 Kicker 6.2 component set ups (4 speakers + tweeters) and If I feel froggy I'll stash a pair of 8" drivers in ported boxes under the console with a separate amp. These I already have. Everything else must be sourced.

I don't want to cut that ever-lasting-nothing else is gonna fit-ugly arse rectangle hole in my dash for a head unit that will get cancer and die..... (take breath) .... in six months or less.

So, from what I have read on here, Ipods lack the umph to generate sufficient volume levels to drive a simple amp. So something else is needed in-between the two. What do I need?

I don't know what dock or plug to buy

I don't know what interfacing devise is needed

I don't know if I need a specific amp with some crazy algorithm to accommodate my needs.

well you could get a marine head unit like clarion and mount it in a waterproof enclosure and just mount that to your console with screws, and run the wires through a 3rd hole. get a single din deck and just cut out the fiberglass and get one of those factory waterproof clasping covers. it's only going to increase someone wanting to buy it at a later date. find out the rms watts of your speakers and get an amp for them that matches or is slightly more powerful. you could probably just get a 2 ch. amp for all 4 speakers depending where they are mounted. even fresh water will rust out stuff so go with marine stuff for sure.

It is possible to go with your iPod as a source unit. Kicker has an in-line volume control, the ZXM-RLC that has just started shipping. It is an active volume control, so you go from zero volts at "all the way down" to a max of 9 volts, assuming a 4.5 volt input from a traditional head unit. Your iPod will put out less than 4.5 volts, but know that the ZXM-RLC provides a 2x voltage bump compared with wiring the iPod straight to the amp.

So, you install the amp. Then install the ZXM-RLC so that it is connected to the RCA inputs of the amp. There are actually two zones of control, so you might want the second zone to drive something else, or to provide independent control over two amps, like for front and rear, or in boat and tower... Then hook your iPod to the ZXM-RLC input and voila' you have a nice iPod based sound system without a head unit, and you still have good volume control over the whole rig.

To take it the rest of the way there, find a 12-volt accessory charging device that will keep your iPod charged while plugged in. There are many out there, and some of them go so far as to actually have a line level RCA stereo output from the plug on the bottom, rather than the headphone jack. This will sound better for most applications.

David at Earmark shoud be receiving some ZXM-RLC's any day now. Hook up with him to see about buying one.

Thanks Phil. I was just looking at the JL line driver. That thing is pretty cool. I believe it has 7.0 V out and has a little remote volume knob I can install on the dash. So that is the big question answered. I need only to source the best one for my application.
So instead of using a headphone to RCA cable I guess I should run a docking station like you described. Is there one you would recommend over the others?

Also: four 6.5 Kickers, single amp.

What are the specs I should look for in an amplifier?
Thanks, >>> John